FABBS made substantive recommendations to the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Comments were submitted in response to a Request for Information (RFI).
FABBS comments pointed to what NIH learned during COVID-19, including that a vaccine alone, no matter how effectual or rapidly developed and widely available, is considerably less impactful if people are unwilling to take it.
Recommendations
- Update the NIAID mission statement to include behavioral sciences.
- Add a stand-alone research priority to “Advance and apply foundational research on human behaviors relevant to the NIAID mission, to minimize risk and maximize protective behaviors and intervention uptake.”
- Increase understanding of communication practices
- Invest in health literacy
- Expand knowledge about implementation and dissemination strategies
- Support research and field testing of incentives and rewards for preventive behaviors.
- Advance the understanding of the role played by culture, social networks, and social determinants of health.
- Weave behavioral and social science considerations into all priorities.
FABBS comments were consistent with recent NIH wide reports and guidance from the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) updated their strategic plan in 2020 (Update to NIH wide strategic plan 2021-2025) expanding ‘biomedical research’ to include ‘biomedical and behavioral research.’
- NIH Council of Councils approved a Congressionally mandated report on the Integration of the Behavioral and Social Sciences at NIH, in 2022, making specific recommendations to every institute and center about how to better integrate these disciplines.
- In May 2024, the White House released a Blueprint for the Use of Social and Behavioral Science to Advance Evidence Based Policymaking directing all federal agencies to draw from insights and expertise from the behavioral and social sciences.
FABBS thanks the many members who contributed to these recommendations and will be following up with NIAID colleagues and leadership to reenforce the importance of increasing the Institute investment in the behavioral sciences and the need to proactively solicit proposals from the community. In conversations with relevant experts, it was exceedingly clear that FABBS members rarely think of NIAID as an academic home. FABBS will also recommend individuals to the NIAID advisory committee.
- RFI on the strategic plan for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) (NOT-AI-24-032)
- See full comments here – RFI on NIAID Strategic Plan
